Abraham Villines; the common ancestor of all Newton County, Arkansas Villines; was
born in Nanesmond Co, Virginia in the the mid 1770's. He was PROBABLY the son of Hezekiah Veline and Priscilla. Shortly before 1800 Abraham and Thomas Villines,
presumably brothers, showed up in Person County, North Carolina. Abraham was
married there to Nancy McKissack on Feb 15, 1800. Nancy's father, William McKissack,
was the Clerk of Court in Person County.
During the next 20 years Abraham developed extensive holdings in Person and
Caswell Counties, owning several hundred acres of land and many slaves. His home
place was located at the headwaters of the Flat River in Caswell County.
In 1821 financial reverses resulted in much of the estate being placed into receivership
and later sold to pay off debts. Nancy died about 1825 leaving Abraham with small
children. Also during this time other members of the family were sick with
tuberculosis. Perhaps it was this series of events that caused Abraham and his family
to consider leaving North Carolina and seek a new home in the land being opened for
settlement west of the Mississippi. By early 1832 Abraham had acquired a new wife
named Martha. (It has long been thought that Martha was the sister of Nancy, but has
yet to be proven. Also...some believe Nancy did not die until after Abraham moved to Arkansas. As far as I know there is no proof one way or the other.) Preparations were complete and they headed west. The exact time of
arrival in what later became Newton County is unknown, buy they were established on
the Upper Buffalo River by 1837. An older son had settled in Tennessee earlier, so it is
likely they stopped there for a time.
Emigrants from middle Tennessee at this time usually followed the southwest trail out
of Missouri into Arkansas to a few miles below Batesville. From there they followed a
road up the north side of White River to the present site of Lead Hill. Crossing the
White River they found a recently cleared road to the little frontier settlement of
Carrolton. From there they crossed over the mountain to the headwaters of the Buffalo
River. There were no roads in this area at the time, only well worn trails that had been
formed from centuries of use by grazing animals and the Indians that hunted them.
The trail that connected the Osage and Buffalo watersheds came off the mountain and
entered the valley where Whitely Creek, then unnamed, joins the Buffalo River. It was
near here that two families in the party Abraham was traveling with established
homes. Abraham proceeded on down river and settled under the high bluff near what
later became known as Center Point.
Abraham lived there the rest of his life. His children married and established homes
nearby. The only clue to Abraham's death is Susan Villines Baker. She stated that her
grandfather was killed by bushwackers during the Civil War. She further stated that he
was very old and they killed him with a bayonet. The women buried him by the
trail where he was killed. Martha died on Mar 20, 1862 and is buried in Beechwood
Cemetery. It is believed that Martha and Abraham never had any children.
(Information from the records of Kenneth Villines)
Eaton Family History
Villines Family News
Villines Family History
Weems Family History Page
The Descendants of John and Rebeccah McKissack
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